Lesson objectives

 To discover that collecting water can take a long time and a lot of effort

 To become more aware of the importance of water and the need to use it sensibly

Introduction

We have clean water at home and at school. All we have to do is turn on a tap and out comes fresh, clean drinkable water. In Katine it is much harder to find clean water, nobody has taps at home and almost 50% of the population have to walk nearly a mile to fetch water from a spring or a well. They collect water in containers called jerry cans. A jerry can holds about 20 litres of water.

Teacher: A simple spread sheet could be used to record water use and to calculate the final totals instead of using paper and a calculator.

Activity : Week 1

A family in Katine uses two jerry cans of water in a day. That is enough water to do all the cooking, to wash children and clothing and to give drinks to animals.

1. In small groups, explore the Virtual village presentation called Water. An everyday struggle. Look at the pictures and click on all the blue circles to find out more facts about water in Katine.

2. Do you think that your family uses more or less water than a family in Katine? Write your answer now by completing the sentence…

I think that my family uses ________ water than a family in Katine.

3. On Saturday or Sunday think about how you and your family use water. Do you wash, clean your teeth, flush the toilet, have a shower, or do the washing up? If your family do any of those things, or use water in a different way, write it down on your water log. Make a mark in the 'How many times' column every time they use some water. Remember to bring your log with you for the lesson next week.

Activity : Week 2

1. Now add up the number of litres of water your family used. Your water log shows you how much water each activity used, so to work out the total amount of water you need to count the number of times they did each thing on your list, and multiply it by the amount of water it used. For example, if you drank three large mugs of juice you used 0.4 litres of water 3 times, so that is 0.4 x 3, or 1.2 litres of water.

2. How many litres of water did your family use?

Write your answer here:

In one day my family used _____ litres of water.

3. In Katine you could collect 20 litres of water every time you walked to the nearest spring. How many times would you have to walk to the spring to meet your family's water needs?

(Hint: Using a calculator divide the amount of water you used by 20 to find the number of trips you'd have to make)

Now complete this sentence.

If my family lived in Katine I would have to walk to the well ______ times every day to get enough water.

4. Do you think that you use too much water, or the right amount?

5. Draw a picture of you getting water for your family in Katine. Make sure that you include a jerry can and a well or borehole somewhere in your drawing.